Florida’s Republican U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, were divided Thursday about whether to reject President Donald Trump’s declaration of a border emergency.
Rubio was in the Senate majority voting against Trump, who made the declaration as he seeks to use military-related money to build a border wall. “We have an emergency at our border, which is why I support the president’s use of forfeiture funds and counter-drug money to build a wall,” Rubio said in a prepared statement. “However, I cannot support moving funds that Congress explicitly appropriated for construction and upgrades of our military bases. This would create a precedent a future president may abuse to jumpstart programs like the Green New Deal, especially given the embrace of socialism we are seeing on the political left.”
Scott, meanwhile, backed Trump on the emergency declaration. “For years, everyone in both parties has said they want to secure our border, but they never did anything about it,” Scott said in a statement. “It’s time to get serious about border security and the safety of American families. That’s why I support the president’s efforts to secure the border and voted against the resolution of disapproval today.”
The Senate voted 59-41 to overturn the declaration of emergency, but Trump is expected to veto the move.
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